Heimo Breiteneder Professor for Medical Biotechnology

The final round of negotiations with Heimo Breiteneder has come to an end, and he will be assigned our center with May 1st, 2011, as professor for Medical Biotechnology.

Biographical sketch Univ. Prof. Dr. Heimo BREITENEDER

Heimo Breiteneder studied botany and biochemistry at the University of Vienna in Austria from 1978-1985. During his dissertation at the Department of General Biochemistry he examined the genome organization of the precursors of the chloroplasts of green plants, the so called endosymbiontic cyanelles of Cyanophora paradoxa. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Vienna in July1985 and then joined the Department of General and Experimental Pathology of the Medical Faculty of the University of Vienna as a researcher on the molecular biology of allergens. In 1989, he published the cloning of the cDNA of the worldwide first plant allergen Bet v 1 from birch pollen and then proceeded with the molecular and immunological characterization of other tree pollen allergens. Heimo Breiteneder undertook his post-doctoral studies from 1991-1993 at the Department of Biochemistry of the University of Arizona in Tucson on the stability of mRNAs of the salt and draught resistant ice plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum as well as on phage display of antibodies. Following his return to Austria to the Department of General and Experimental Pathology, Heimo Breiteneder performed and guided research on allergens from latex, plant and animal foods, on expression systems, and on the development of vaccines against melanoma, breast cancer, and allergy. He became Associate Professor in 1997 and in 2006 Head of the Division of Medical Biotechnology at the Department of Pathophysiology of the Medical University of Vienna and. He has authored or co-authored 129 research papers that were published in peer-reviewed journals. Aside from his teaching activities, Dr. Breiteneder has supervised many students through their MSc and PhD degrees. Dr. Breiteneder is an internationally well recognized speaker on allergen systematics and the molecular biology of allergens. Since 2006, he is the chair of the WHO/IUIS Allergen Nomenclature Sub-Committee. Since May 2011, Heimo Breiteneder is Professor of Medical Biotechnology at the Medical University of Vienna. He works at the Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research (Head: Univ. Prof. Dr. Erika Jensen-Jarolim) which belongs to the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology (Head: Univ. Prof. Dr. Hannes Stockinger). At present, his Division of Medical Biotechnology encompasses 5 working groups and 19 members. Prof. Breiteneder’s current research focuses on studying the events that lead to allergic sensitization as well as on developing melanoma vaccines. Prof. Breiteneder aims to intensify the research and teaching collaborations of the Medical University of Vienna with the Vienna University of Technology and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna.